Joint between headgear and face shield



United i i Y 2,926,380 i :om BETWEEN HEADGEAR- AND FACE .SHIELD James A.Richard, Monroeville, Pa., assignor to Mine Safety Appliances Company,Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania' Application July 12,1.956, Serial No. `597,445

2 Claims. (Cl. 16-140) yattachable to the members it connects, whichwill rfirmly support a face shield in any desired tilted position, and

the resistance of which to pivoting is adjustable.

ln accordance with this invention, a drum with a cylindrical surface isformed for attachment in fixedy position to one side of headgear. Forthis purpose, it is preferred to use a flanged retaining member that isArigidly connected to the inner end of the drum and has a noncircularportion extending through an opening of corresponding shape in theheadgear. The drum is encircled by a band in frictional engagement withit. The band is formed for attachment in lixed position to one side *ofa face shield, preferably by being provided with a'ii'oncircularprojection extending into an opening of'corresponding shape in theshield. The band may beV split and provided with spaced ends that aredrawn toward each other by a screw, sothat the pressure of the bandagainst the drum can be controlled.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a fragmentary side view of acombination welders face shield and headgear;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line II-II of Fig.1; and

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line III- III of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the headgear may be a helmet, rigidcap or a head-encircling libre band 1 supported by straps 2 crossing thehead. The face shield 3, shown as a Welder's face shield forillustrative purpose only, is likewise generally made of fibre. It iscurved transversely and has substantially parallel rear marginalportions straddling the headband. As is the usual practice, thesemarginal portions are pivotally connected to opposite sides of theheadgear so that the shield can be swung up away from the face of thewearer when desired. The means by which the shield and headgear arepivotally connected or joined form the subject of this invention. l

Each of the two pivotal joints connecting the shield to the headgearincludes a drum 5 which-is an annular member with a cylindrical outersurface 6 and a noncircular, preferably square, hole 7 through itscenter. The drum may be made of any suitable material, such as nylon,plastic, metal, etc. The outer end of the drum is encircled by anintegral radial flange 8. The drum is attached to the headgear, mostsuitably by means of a retaining member 9 and a screw 10 as shown inFig. 2. The retaining member extends through an opening in the headband1 and has a reduced square projection 12 that lits in the square hole inthe drum. The screw 10 is threaded in an axial bore 13 in theprojection, and has a large head which overlaps and engages au annular2,926,386 Patented Mar. 1, 19Go shoulder 14 near the outer end of thedrum. The'drum therefore is rigidly connected to the retaining member.The portion of the retaining member that extends through the headband isnon-circular, p'referablyhaving Ya 'polygonal surface 15 of at leastfour sides," and lits in the headband opening 4of corresponding shape tokeep the retaining niernber'from' turning in it. The inner end ofthelreta'ining memberv is encircled by a radial flange 16 that engagesthe inner surface of the headband.

Encircling drum 5 is a band 18 that has spaced parallel endportionsextending away from the drum. The inside of the bandfrictionally engages the cylindrical surface 6 of the drum with apressure determined by an adjusting screw 19 extending loosely throughone end of the band and threaded in the other end. The side of the bandadjacent the headgear is provided with an integral noncircularprojection 20, preferably square, that extends into an opening ofcorresponding shape in the face shield so that the shield can not turnon the band. Between the shield and headband there preferably is anannular spacer 21 that most suitably encircles the inner end of thedrum, although it could surround the retaining member if surface 15extended farther outward.

When the face shield is moving up or down, band 18 will be rotatedaround the drum but, because of the friction of the band against thedrum, the band will hold the shield in any position to which it ismoved. If it is ever desired to remove the shield from the headgear,that can be done by merely first removing the screw 10| from each jointand then pulling the drums off the re taining member projections 12.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, Il have explainedthe principle of my invention and have. illustrated and described what Inow consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to haveit under- Y stood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the;-invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically; illustratedand described.

I claim:

l. A joint for pivotally connecting al face shield to headgear,comprising a drum having a cylindrical surface encircled at its outerend by a radial flange, the drum.; being provided with an axial passagetherethrough that .1 is polygonal in cross section, a retaining memberengagA in-g the inner end of the drum and having a central pro-- jectionfitting in said passage provided with a threaded? axial opening, a screwin said threaded opening having af, head overlapping the outer endportion of the drum to fasten the drum and retaining member togetherrigidly,., the inner end of said member being provided with a.l flangefor engaging headgear, a band encircling the drumi in frictionalengagement with said cylindrical surfacel and having -spaced ends, andmeans contracting the bancl' against the drum, the band having a portionformedfor connection to a face shield.

2. A face-protecting device comprising; headgear, a face shieldoverlapping opposite sides of the headgear, at least one side of theheadgear and the adjacent shield being provided with an axially alignedpolygonal opening, a drum at the side of said device having acylindrical surface encircled at its outer end by a radial flange andhaving its inner end disposed loosely in said shield opening, the drumbeing provided with an axial passage therethrough that is polygonal incross section, a retaining member extending through the headgear openingand engagin-g the inner end of the drum, said member having a centralprojection fitting in said drum passage and provided with a threadedaxial opening, a screw in saic threaded opening having a headoverlapping the outer end portion of the drum to fasten the drum andretaining member togetherV rigidly, the retaining member having apolygonal periphery fitting snugly in said headgearV aangaan.

opening and surrounded at its inner end by a radial ange engaging theinner surface of the headgear, a band encircling the drum in frictionalengagement with said cy lindricai Surface and having Spaced ends, and.meansonf tiaeliung` Athe band against the drum, the band haying .apQ1ygna1 -pQrIion fitting Asnugly in said Shield 'Opening ,t keep .theShield from turning relative to the band.

1,031,275 Krah Jply 2, 19112 vxo Rixson Mar. 14,

'Buege'leisen Nov. 11,

Homaster May 29,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain May 29,

Sweden Sept. 29,

Great Britain Mar. 25,

